Rising star Hudey says success is a family affair
Father coaches White City speedskater to her first World Cup medal in Norway
Speedskater Marsha Hudey finally held it in her hand last Friday in Norway, a World Cup medal to call her own, sparkling silver from her specialty, the 500 metres.
“It’s about as big as a loonie. Says World Cup on it, second place, the date and the place: Stavanger. It’s nice,” she said.
“I think I’ll give it to my dad.” The 27-year-old from White City chased this medal for five years, and it’s certainly a just reward for the workload that only gets heavier at the pinnacle of her gruelling pursuit, but she literally wouldn’t have been in position to win it without the guidance, enthusiasm and support of her father, Brad.
“My dad is my inspiration and my biggest role model,” Hudey said. “He’s the one who got me into skating. He has been one of my coaches. He has been very instrumental in my career, my development. We have a different connection and relationship, and I just know what it would mean to him.”
Which is to say, plenty.
“It means a lot, because it means I helped her achieve that goal,” said Brad, a masters skater and Level 3 coach.
Theirs is not a typical father/ daughter or coach/athlete relationship, but rather a complex hybrid they seem to pull off with aplomb.
“When I coach Marsha, it’s a business relationship,” he said. “There’s a goal and we take steps toward that goal. That’s a very refreshing relationship. It’s positive. It’s good. It’s different than the father-daughter thing.”
He watches every race, including the one from Stavanger, with two brains. And when Marsha finally secured her first individual World Cup medal, to go along with team sprint baubles, he was pleased first as a coach.
“That’s because I’m totally immersed. What was her opener? How does her start look? How is the racing technically? While the race is on, that’s all I’m thinking about,” he said. “OK. Opener is good.
“She got down quickly. Full extension by the 50-metre mark, was the corner entry good, how did she make the transition on the back stretch, did she enter the corner well on the final corner, was her hip in at the apex, was she hitting her flats on the final straightaway, was she fighting hard?
“Those are the things going through my mind. And then I look at the time and my first thought is, ‘Could that have been faster? What could she do to improve?’ ”
“The father thing comes later. When I see her happy, I’m happy, and that’s the father thing.”
Let it be said that Marsha was happy. After all that training, after four fourth-place finishes last season — just a blink of an eye from the podium — she was over the moon. She called her mother straight away.
“She said, ‘Mom, I’m so happy I can’t believe it. I had so much fun,’ ” Brad said.
“That tells me Marsha is in it for the right reasons and she’s motivated by the love of the sport and the thrill of competition. As a father, that’s what I want. Win or lose doesn’t matter.”
Winning is nice, but Marsha has always been able to see past the podium.
“I love skating. So it’s something that has always been in my heart,” she said. “To be honest, one of the things I enjoy most about it is the process, the things that skating has taught me, the lessons, kind of who it has made me as a person.”
Though Marsha still relies heavily on her father’s encyclopedic knowledge of the sport, Brad’s official role as a coach ended after the Sochi Olympics. Marsha finished 32nd in the 500m there.
She’s on track for a much better run at the podium in Pyeongchang, after spending the entire 2016-17 World Cup season in the top 10, and finishing fourth overall. Consistently finishing in the top five is the new goal.
“I think it’s doable. I don’t think I’m done improving,” she said.
Fresh off that silver, she comes into the next two World Cups in Calgary and Salt Lake City knowing she belongs on the podium. She was .79 seconds behind winner Nao Kodaira of Japan and .09 seconds ahead of Austria’s Vanessa Herzog, as four women went sub38 seconds.
“It’s one of those things I knew was going to happen. I just didn’t know when,” Marsha said. “I think probably a lot of people maybe saw me there, even before I saw myself there. Just stepping up there gives me more confidence moving forward.”
My dad is my inspiration and my biggest role model. He’s the one who got me into skating . ... He has been very instrumental in my career.